Top brass at FTSE 100 finance and property companies were the most likely to have missed out on pay rises last year, research has found.

Fifty-nine per cent of top executives in these sectors went without a salary rise last year, according to a study by Deloitte. A third took home up to 3 per cent more and 8 per cent received a boost of more than a tenth.

The average salary for a top full-time executive director ranged between £676,000 and £1.15 million, depending on the size of the company, the accountancy firm found. The range for finance directors